China s Foreign Policy Challenges and Prospects
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China s Foreign Policy Challenges and Prospects Joseph Yu-shek Cheng City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong World Scientific NEW JERSEY LONDON SINGAPORE BEIJING SHANGHAI HONG KONG TAIPEI CHENNAI TOKYO
Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Zheng, Yushuo, 1949 Title: China s foreign policy : challenges and prospects / Joseph Yu-shek Cheng (City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong). Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, 2016. Identifiers: LCCN 2015031781 ISBN 9789814719025 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: China--Foreign relations--1976 China--Foreign relations--21st century. Classification: LCC DS779.27.Z4685 2016 DDC 327.73--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015031781 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright 2016 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. In-house Editors: Dipasri Sardar/Dong Lixi Typeset by Stallion Press Email: enquiries@stallionpress.com Printed in Singapore
This book is dedicated to my wife Grace
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Contents Preface About the Author Chapter 1 China s Foreign Policy: Coping with the Challenge of Power 1 Part I Overall Framework 41 Chapter 2 The Evolution of China s Foreign Policy in the Post-Mao Era: From Anti-Hegemony to Modernization Diplomacy 43 Chapter 3 China s Foreign Policy in the Mid-1990s 95 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 China s Foreign Policy Since the Seventeenth Party Congress 125 Convincing the World of China s Tradition to Pursue Universal Harmony 165 Part II China s Significant Bilateral Relations 191 Chapter 6 China s Peaceful Rise and the U.S. Mutual Perceptions, Mutual Trust and Planning for Future Scenarios 193 ix xi vii
viii Contents Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chinese Perceptions of Russian Foreign Policy During the Two Putin Administrations: U.S. Russian Relations and Strategic Triangle Considerations 221 China s Japan Policy: Seeking Stability and Improvement in Uncertainties and Conflicts 259 Chapter 9 China s India Policy: Balancing Global and Bilateral Issues 305 Chapter 10 Sino-Vietnamese Relations in the Early Twenty-first Century: Economics in Command? 345 Chapter 11 China s Iran Policy: Balancing Interests and Managing Expectations 391 Part III China s Management of Various Challenges 417 Chapter 12 A Chinese View of China s Energy Security 419 Chapter 13 Battle Ready? Developing a Blue-water Navy: China s Strategic Dilemma 459 Chapter 14 China s Ocean Development Strategy and its Handling of the Territorial Conflicts in the South China Sea 497 Chapter 15 From Non-interference to a Responsible Major Power: China s Engagement in Darfur 525 Chapter 16 China s Approach to Intervention in the Syrian Crisis: The Challenge of Working through the United Nations System 563 Bibliography 593 Index 619
Preface As China becomes an important actor in global affairs, Chinese leaders realize their responsibility to protect the country s international interests which have become substantial and complex. They also understand that the nation expects them to raise China s international status and influence, and their performance in this arena has become a significant factor contributing to the legitimacy of the Party regime. While the leadership in Beijing continues to define its world view, its ideological formulation of global contradictions and its foreign policy line, the concept of national interests has gradually become the explicit dominant factor in the actual policy implementation process. As China s overall national interests become global and complex, maintaining a proper balance becomes increasingly challenging and compromises have to be made constantly. China s economic growth has much facilitated its ambition to enhance its international status and influence as its military capabilities improve and its resources for economic diplomacy expand. Containing the China threat perception and providing reassurances to its neighbors thus become more difficult tasks. To convince the world of its intention to rise peacefully has remained the main theme of Chinese diplomacy in the post-mao era, and the leadership s awareness of the significance of soft power has been reflected in the impressive resources now put into public diplomacy. ix
x Preface This volume intends to examine China s foreign policy framework and its evolution in the recent decades in the context of its bilateral relations with major powers and important regional countries as well as its handling of various challenges ranging from territorial disputes to energy security. Through a detailed analysis of the actual operation of Chinese foreign policy, it is hoped that the above themes and issues will be better understood. While attempting to consider China s foreign policy from its leadership s framework, the author maintains an objective and critical view. In the past two years when my political activities in pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong brought me substantial pressures, especially from my line supervisor and the City University of Hong Kong, my wife Grace offered me unfailing support which has enabled me to finish this book before my retirement. I am most grateful to my colleagues and friends in the pro-democracy movement whose encouragement given me the strength to maintain my efforts in both my political and academic endeavors. Finally, I would also like to thank the World Scientific Publishing Company for publishing this book and especially Mr. Tiong Chong Wong, Ms. Dong Lixi and Ms. Dipasri Sardar for their superb professional assistance. Joseph Yu-shek Cheng 1 June 2015
About the Author Joseph Yu-shek Cheng is the retired Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the Contemporary China Research Project, City University of Hong Kong. He is the founding editor of the Hong Kong Journal of Social Sciences and the Journal of Comparative Asian Development. He has published widely on the political development in China and Hong Kong, Chinese foreign policy and local government in southern China. His recent publications include China s Japan Policy Adjusting to New Challenges, and The Use of Mao and the Chongqing Model. He served as the Convener of the Alliance for True Democracy in Hong Kong from 2013 to 2014. xi